Because He's Worth It
by fey of the forest
Summary: oneshot. The Doctor doesn't like his girly hair and wants it cutting and dying ginger, so is chuffed when he lands on the planet Betelchuse. What he doesn't know is that newly regenerated Time Lords and scissors don't mix...


**Based on the final scene of the End of Time part two, so there are some spoilers. Erm, this is my first step into the Doctor Who world of fanfic, so forgive me if there are any mistakes. Please r&r as reviews equal much love and virtual cookies. Hope you enjoy =)**

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately I don't own any part of Doctor Who, otherwise it would be on TV right now :D I do however own Kaminski and the receptionist ; )

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The TARDIS was on fire- he didn't care.

The TARDIS was, in fact, crashing- he didn't care.

He had girly hair. It wasn't ginger- he did care.

Was it too much to ask to be ginger for just one regeneration? For once he didn't want to have to have brown hair or dark hair or blonde hair or even white hair. He didn't mind if it was going to be straight or curly, he just wanted to be ginger. Then again he didn't really want it to be this length either. It was too girly. At least it hadn't bugged him before this regeneration... Actually, that was a lie. It had bothered his fourth and sixth self, but never mind. Now... well, he had really liked his hair as his tenth self. He didn't have to do much for it to look alright, and it had been good to run his hand through it in times of crisis or just because he felt like it. This hair he had now needed caring for and he simply didn't have the time between saving universes and defeating evil aliens. No, he needed to do something to get it sorted, but first there was the matter of the fire that needed to be attending to.

Running around the console avoiding any debris, the Doctor started pressing random buttons and pulling various levers until he heard the familiar grating and rasping of his TARDIS. Deciding that something had to be done about the fire before his suit got burnt (He liked that suit, it was a good suit, his faithful favourite suit), he grabbed the fire extinguisher that he kept by the door and tried to put out the flames that were licking at his feet. It was when nothing came out of the extinguisher that he remembered the time where he and Donna had defeated the Terebratulids of Delta 13. Ah poor Donna getting covered in... There was no time for that now! Dropping the useless piece of fire fighting equipment, he felt in his pockets to see if he actually had anything on him for putting out the blaze. The Artesians of the planet Aquicludia were especially good for creating small pieces of technology that could put out fires that covered whole planets. Pulling something out that felt helpful, he pulled the trigger and, when nothing came out, he stared at the piece of yellow plastic. What use was a little water pistol now? Throwing it away, he sprinted to the corridor which led away from the console room to grab another of the fire extinguishers he kept nearby and tried it before going back to the burning console. Completely covering the room and smothering the flames, the console creaked dangerously. The TARDIS groaned as they landed and the Doctor smiled as he stepped outside. It seemed that he had come to the right place.

Closing the door, he winced as he heard something crash before shrugging and carrying on. He would fix it later but for now, there were more important things that needed to be taken care of.

Betelchuse was the planet where anyone who was anyone went to get their hair done, or so Captain Jack Harkness had told him. That meant that they should be able to sort out his hair, the Doctor thought to himself, and it also meant that it would probably be expensive. Then again, so long as they could make his hair more manageable and ginger, he didn't mind. Walking around the various salons and boutiques meant for a variety of alien species, the Doctor was looking for one in particular which the Captain had recommended to him. Apparently Jack had been a regular customer at 'Liebemann's' when he had been 'the face of Boe'. Stopping at an information point, the Doctor looked to see if he could spot the salon on the map. After quite some time, he did see it and found that it was there in the corner, a good hour's walk away. Rolling his eyes, the Doctor started walking. It would all be worth it in the end.

An hour and a half later, after managing to get lost a good few times and having asked for directions off various aliens (many of whom had never heard of the place) the newly regenerated Doctor finally reached his destination. The store front was a bit battered and the sign had seen better days, but it seemed to be open and that was always a good thing. Walking in through the door, the last Time Lord waited at the traditional Earth style reception desk and was greeted by a young man who had bright blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Humanoid, it was evident that he wasn't human when he flashed his sparkling white mouth of fangs.

"How may we help you sir?" he asked, his voice almost seductive.

"I'd like a haircut." The Doctor told him, still getting used to his new voice. There was always something weird that he found with his new regenerations. Last time it was the teeth, this time the voice... oh, and the fact that he had girly hair and, just to add insult to injury, he still wasn't ginger.

"Then you've come to the right place. How would you like it? Which number?"

"Oh, I don't know. Number six? I like six; it's more than five but less than seven. It's a good number is number six. They only had six guards in Camelot you know." The Doctor babbled.

"Of course sir now would you like to come this way?" the blonde receptionist asked, leading him towards a chair in front of a mirror. It needed cleaning, the Doctor noted, but he didn't mind. He wanted his hair cutting, and he wanted it dying too, so he could forgive them this. Besides, it was probably a while since they'd had their last customer. Taking the seat that was offered, he found a towel thrown across his neck.

"So..." The Doctor began in an attempt to start a conversation.

"Kaminski! You have a customer!" the receptionist yelled. The Doctor, startled, looked around to see another blonde appear from the back. This one, who must be Kaminski, had short blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and fangs, much like the receptionist. Brothers perhaps? "He wants a number six."

"Good choice." Kaminski said with a thick accent. It sounded familiar but the newly regenerated Doctor couldn't quite place it. All his mind was letting him do was sort out his girly hair and that was all he was interested in. "So, been anywhere nice recently? The outer reaches of Echinoidermata? I hear it's lovely this time of century."

"Nah, been on Earth. It's much better. Colder and wetter, but much more fun... And less filled with tourists."

"Not even visited the Cosmos of Scleractinia 39?"

"Just good old Planet Earth. Got to love those Earthlings." The Doctor smiled, letting Kaminski wash his hair and feeling content to just stare at the ceiling.

"Why Earth? Why there when there is so much out in the universe?"

"Because Earth always needs saving." He smiled. "It's like there's something there that draws me to it."

"Fair enough. Now, simple cut?"

"Just get rid of the locks, and is it too much to ask to dye my hair ginger?"

"Not at all sir." Kaminski smiled, disappearing for a few moments before returning with some sort of alien hairdryer. The Doctor was led over to a different chair in front of a mirror and couldn't resist twirling around on it.

"Weeee!" he grinned, causing the two hairdressers to stare at him like he was insane. Stopping, he looked in the mirror and stared at his girly hair. Pretty soon it would be manly hair.

"If you would calm down sir...." Kaminski said softly before starting to cut the Doctor's hair. The newly regenerated Time Lord was glad to see his locks go before Kaminski switched on the alien hair dryer thing. Drying the Doctor's now much shorter hair, it did the job of dying it ginger too. The Time Lord grinned as he watched the colour stick to his dark hair and was just a little annoyed that it couldn't have happened naturally. However, now that he had found a cheat....

"All done sir. Now, that will be 30 credits please."

"With pleasure." The Time Lord smiled, reaching inside his coat to reach his money. Leaving the salon whistling, he walked back to the TARDIS with a spring in his step. His hair was perfect, but he didn't realise that it wasn't going to stay like that for long...

After about an hour of walking with the familiar blue box now in sight, he realised that he was being stared at and so the Doctor stopped to look at himself in a mirror. With some shock and horror he found that his hair was back to being long, girly and brown rather than short and ginger as it had been when he'd left the salon. Turning on his heel, he ran back to 'Liebemann's' to try and get it sorted.

"Back so soon sir?" the receptionist asked, looking at him with curious amusement.

"Look what's happened!" The Doctor practically screeched, tugging at the longest strands.

"We shall sort it sir." Kaminski assured him, sitting him down and beginning the process again, this time trying a different style, spiking up the Doctor's hair with gel. However, five minutes later the Doctor's hair was back to being as long as it had been previously, and the same colour. Sharpening his scissors, the hair dresser smiled and then started on another style, this time cutting the Doctor's hair very short. The Time Lord didn't seem to mind this, but it still didn't stay for long. Kaminski and the receptionist sighed before starting again.

"Is there any particular reason why your hair keeps growing back so soon sir?" Kaminski asked. The Doctor shrugged, causing the hair dresser to roll his eyes as he picked up the razors and started shaving the Doctor's head. About ten minutes later the Time Lord had a Mohican and stared at himself in the mirror, wondering whether he should laugh or cry. The hair dye refused to stay and his hair had seemed to have increased its growth rate. Only a few minutes later the hair had grown back, longer and stronger than ever. It could now be plaited or put back in a pony tail. If anything it was even more girlier hair than it had been and it wasn't fair. Whether this was because he was so newly regenerated or not, the Doctor had no idea, but the stack of his cut hair was piling up.

"Shave it all off!" The last of the Time Lords ordered. Kaminski stared at him.

"Are you certain sir?"

"I am. Just get it all off!" The hair dresser just shrugged and set to it. Looking in the mirror the Doctor found himself bald but not for long. His hair grew back. "Oh now this is just getting ridiculous!" he muttered angrily to himself.

"I'm sorry sir." The hair dresser apologised. "I shall try again?" The Doctor nodded, letting the man start again. However, they got the same results as last time, the Doctor's hair growing back and the dye still not staying. Close to giving up, Kaminski stopped only when it was closing time.

"I am very sorry sir, but it does not seem to want to stay."

"You've done your best." The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly. "But thank you anyway."

"No problem sir."

"So how much?"

"Considering your hair hasn't actually decided to stay, nothing." Grinning, the Doctor shook the man's hand before leaving and heading back to his spaceship, making a mental note to return when his regeneration energy had worn off.

Of course, it was only when he reached the TARDIS that he realised that it had been falling to pieces inside when he had left it. Chances were that he wasn't going to be able to dematerialise for a little while yet, but still... Knowing that he couldn't sort out his hair, the somewhat disheartened Doctor walked inside the blue police box and started repairing his time and space machine. Well, at least this could be fixed...


End file.
